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Trent Franks Is Running Again After Resigning Over Misconduct. It’s Making One of His Past Accusers Nervous.

The former Arizona congressman is seeking his old seat, seven years after leaving office amid a surrogacy-related scandal.

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Former congressman Trent Franks resigned from office in 2017. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Nearly seven years after resigning due to an office misconduct scandal, Arizona Republican Trent Franks is running for Congress again, bringing the allegations against him back into the forefront — both for him as a candidate and his accusers, who thought they could move on with their lives.

One of those accusers is Melissa Richmond, now an operative at Running Start, an organization that helps women run for office. In a 2017 Washington Post column, Richmond alleged that in 2010, Franks rescinded an internship offer after she refused to go to his house late on a Sunday night for a “final one-on-one interview” after the then-congressman had made it clear his family was not home.

Franks declined to comment and referred NOTUS to his former chief of staff, Randy Kutz, who said he had met Richmond once but never formally offered an internship.